NPP Polyot is a Nizhny Novgorod aviation radio communications enterprise founded in 1964; in 1966–1991 it was the Gorky Research Institute of Radio Communications. Its full name is Federal Research and Production Center, Joint-Stock Company "Research and Production Enterprise 'Polyot'"; the enterprise is part of Rostec. Its products are communication systems for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, ground-based air communication systems, antennas, and medical equipment; Polyot participates in the cooperative production of the MS-21-310 aircraft. Its main building is a high-rise at Komsomolskaya Square, 1, in Leninsky District. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

History

The enterprise was established in 1964, when the Soviet aviation industry required new shortwave long-range radio communication systems: a branch of the Moscow Research Institute of Radio Communications was organized on the basis of the design bureau of the Gorky Communications Equipment Plant named after A. S. Popov. In 1966, it became the independent Gorky Research Institute of Radio Communications (GNIIRS), and that same year the foundation pit for its first building was dug. [7][4]

One of its first projects was the Mikron shortwave radio station, which the Popov Plant began producing in 1969. This was followed by successive generations of airborne communication systems — the second, third, and fourth — under the names Proton, Zhuravl-K, Yadro, Pozitron, and Krestets. [7][4]

In 1988, the Polyot scientific-production association was formed on the basis of GNIIRS; in 1991 the institute became NPP Polyot; in 1998 it was reorganized as a state unitary enterprise, and in 2000 as a federal enterprise. In 2009, the government granted it the status of a federal research and production center. [7][4]

In 2011, by decision of the Territorial Administration of the Federal Agency for State Property Management, the federal state unitary enterprise was converted into a joint-stock company: JSC "NPP Polyot" was registered on December 29, 2011, OGRN 1115258007688, INN 5258100129 [8][4]. The status of a federal scientific and production center was incorporated into the full official name [2].

Key Dates
YearEvent
1973Airborne command post communications complex based on the Il-18 [4]
1977LPK-1 building commissioned; Vostok children's camp opened [4]
1978USSR State Prize for the Zhuravl family of onboard communications systems [4]
1979Radio test range in Crimea; communications system for the Tu-142M aircraft [4]
1992First export deliveries of communications complexes to China — for the Su-27, according to AiF; second building [7][4]
2001Sokol command-and-relay aircraft complex adopted into service [4]
2010Communications complex operated during the first flight of the T-50 fighter [4][9]
2014Primary developer of communications complexes for Tupolev aircraft [4]
2025Reconstruction permits issued; new director general [3][6]
2026First flight of the serial import-substituted MS-21-310 [1]

Leadership

Evgeniy Leonidovich Belousov worked at the enterprise for 56 years, heading it for 37 of them, and served as Chief Designer from 2009 to 2015. He initiated the creation of a network of radio testing ranges, was a laureate of USSR and Russian State Prizes, a recipient of the Order of Lenin, and an Honorary Citizen of Nizhny Novgorod Region. He died in March 2019 [7][10].

Alexey Vladimirovich Komyakov, a native of Nizhny Novgorod born in 1973, joined the enterprise in 1995 after graduating from the Nizhny Novgorod Technical University and worked his way up from engineer to Director General; he holds a Candidate of Technical Sciences degree [7][9].

Enterprise leadership
YearsDirectorPosition
1964–1969I. I. Kobindirector of the branch [4]
1969–1972A. I. Makeyevdirector of GNIIRS [4]
1972–2009Evgeniy Leonidovich Belousovdirector of GNIIRS; from 1988 — general director of the NPO, then of NPP "Polyot" [4][10]
2009–2025Aleksey Vladimirovich Komyakovgeneral director [3][4][9]
from 18 September 2025Maksim Petrovich Rogovgeneral director [3]

Products

The enterprise is a leading defense-industry company in the field of aviation radio communications. It manufactures command-and-control and communications systems for airborne platforms, air-to-ground communications systems, communications suites for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, ground-based systems, radio stations, and antennas; its primary customers are Russia's Ministry of Defense and aircraft manufacturing plants [5].

According to publicly available data, Polyot equipment is installed on the Su-57, Su-35S, Il-76, Tu-95, and Tu-160 [6]. The enterprise developed the fifth-generation fighter's communications suite after winning a competitive tender; on January 21, 2010, it provided communications during the T-50's maiden flight [9][11]. Other projects include communications suites for the A-50 and Su-34 aircraft [4].

A separate area of activity covers systems for airborne command posts and relay aircraft based on the Il-18, Mi-6, and Mi-8 [4]. The Sokol aircraft group took part in ensuring security during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi [7][4]. Ground-based air communications systems have been exported since 2005; in 2008, two NKVS-27 systems were delivered to Venezuela [4]. Around 60 of the enterprise's antenna devices are rated to withstand lightning strikes [7][12].

In short, we are involved in virtually everything related to aviation communications.

— Konstantin Voytkevich, Deputy Director General for Science, AiF Nizhny Novgorod, 2019 [7]

Civil aviation and the MC-21

In 2007, the MAK Aviation Register issued certificates for the ASV-324 equipment and the Yagut-324 and Bars-MA radio stations [4]. In 2016, Polyot fitted the Bars-MV to a Tupolev aircraft [13]; in 2024, it was working on projects for the MS-21, Superjet, Il-96, and Il-114 [5].

NPP Polyot is part of the cooperation within PJSC United Aircraft Corporation under the MS-21 programme, alongside the Sokol Plant, Hydromash named after V. I. Luzyanin, and Ruspolymet; for the airliner it manufactures short- and long-range communications equipment [1][6]. The first flight of the serial, fully import-substituted MS-21-310 took place on 3 August 2026 at the airfield of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant: 1 hour 23 minutes, altitudes of up to 6,000 metres, indicated airspeeds of up to 600 km/h. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, approximately half of the certification flight tests had been completed by that time [1].

Medical and Environmental Equipment

Since 1984, the enterprise has produced the Magniter magnetic therapy device, and later the Ritm-Polyot biorhythm stimulation device [7][4]. In the 1990s, it introduced the Ozon regional environmental monitoring system and a water-quality monitoring station in Pavlovo [4]; in 2022, it was preparing to launch production of bactericidal gloves [14].

Buildings, Test Ranges, and Branches

The main building is a sixteen-story high-rise opposite the Molitovsky Bridge [11][12]. According to the Association of Industrialists, this was the first sixteen-story building in Gorky, constructed in 1973; according to the enterprise's own chronicle, the building was put into service in 1977 [4][11].

The registered address is Komsomolskaya Square, 1 [3]. In 2025, the regional Ministry of Construction authorized the reconstruction of Building No. 7 [6]. Radio test ranges are located in Sudak, Zhukovsky, Akhtubinsk, and on the Vetluga River in Krasnobakovskiy District [7][12]. In addition to the head office, the enterprise has six separate divisions in five regions, including the Moscow and Astrakhan Regions and [3][5]; the Moscow branch is on Varshavskoe Highway [15].

Staff and Awards

In 2011, the facility employed 2,400 people [12]; according to the NNSU career center — 1,936 [16]. A base department of NSTU, a postgraduate program, and a dissertation council are in operation [5][16]. More than 400 employees have been awarded orders and medals [5].

  • USSR State Prize (1978) and State Prizes of Russia (1996, 1999) [4]
  • Lenin Komsomol Prizes (1973, 1986) [4]
  • Traveling Red Banner (1982, 1985) [4]
  • Regional government diploma from Governor Valery Shantsev (2014) [4]

Owners

Authorized capital — 2,238,921,500 rubles [3]. In 2020, the enterprise was part of Rostec's "United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation" [13]; in 2022, it became part of the Roselectronics holding [14]. Since April 2022, the sole founder is JSC "Order of the Red Banner of Labour Research Institute of Automatic Equipment named after Academician V. S. Semenikin" [8][3].

Sources

  1. Biznes News. Vremya Zarabatyvat — the first serial import-substituted MS-21-310 completes its maiden flight (IA "Vremya N", 3 August 2026) — The first serial import-substituted MS-21-310 has completed its maiden flight (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — Website of JSC NPP Polyot — contacts and full company name (web archive copy, January 2023) — About the Company (archive)
  3. rusprofile.ru — registration details, authorized capital, founder, director, and branches of JSC NPP Polyot — JSC NPP Polyot, Nizhny Novgorod (TIN 5258100129) (archive)
  4. web.archive.org — Website of JSC NPP Polyot — company history in dates, 1964–2014 (web archive copy, 2015) (archive)
  5. web.archive.org — Website of JSC NPP Polyot — general information about the company (web archive copy, July 2024) (archive)
  6. Biznes News. Vremya Zarabatyvat — permits for reconstruction of the enterprise and its products (13 October 2025) — Nizhny Novgorod NPP Polyot has received permission to modernize its production facilities
  7. nn.aif.ru — AiF Nizhny Novgorod — on the company's 55th anniversary: interview with K. L. Voytkevich and key dates in its history (28 August 2019) — Always Connected. NPP Polyot Turns 55 (archive)
  8. checko.ru — record of JSC NPP Polyot according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities: registration, reorganization from a federal state unitary enterprise, founder — Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  9. web.archive.org — Website of JSC NPP Polyot — biography of General Director A. V. Komyakov (web archive copy, 2016) — Authority (archive)
  10. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — obituary of E. L. Belousov (5 March 2019) — Former Director General of FNPTS Polyot in Nizhny Novgorod and Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation Evgeniy Belousov has passed away
  11. napp52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs — Su-57 communications suite and the main building of Polyot (2020) (archive)
  12. KP — Nizhny Novgorod — Komsomolskaya Pravda — Nizhny Novgorod: an article based on materials from the company's press service (8 February 2011) — "NPP Polyot: Current State and Prospects"
  13. nn.rbc.ru — RBC Nizhny Novgorod — the company's work under contracts with PJSC Tupolev (10 August 2020) — Tupolev Seeks to Recover 6 Million Rubles from Nizhny Novgorod NPP Polyot (archive)
  14. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Kommersant Nizhny Novgorod — production of bactericidal gloves (11 February 2022) — Production of COVID-19-impregnated gloves to launch in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  15. web.archive.org — Website of JSC NPP Polyot — management and branches (web archive copy, 2015) — About the Company — Contacts (archive)
  16. career.unn.ru — Lobachevsky University Career Center — partner profile of JSC NPP Polyot — JSC NPP Polyot (archive)